ONE CONSTITUENCY, ONE CANDIDATE ONLY EC SAYS EC proposes "one candidate one constituency", leaders deny Kathmandu, 25 July: The Election Commission (EC) has proposed to make a provision for 'one candidate one constituency' in the next elections, RSS reports. A draft proposal prepared by the Commission to carry out an amendment to the CA Member Elections Act- 2064 BS has proposed this provision.The draft has been already submitted to the government, said the Commission. According to information provided by Commission's Joint Secretary Madhu Regmi, prior to this, one candidate could file the candidacy from more than one constituencies. Similarly, as per the amendment proposal, the political party should garner three percent of the total votes to attain a seat under the proportional system. The political parties have not made their views public on the Commission's proposal. The Commission has already informed the politcal parties about the proposal. However, UCPN (Maoist) leader Nawaraj Subedi said the provision of one candidate one constitunecy is not appropriate as more than one constituency for one candiate is an opportunity for political leaders to check out one's popularity. CPN ( UML) central member Yogesh Bhattarai said the party will make its views on the EC proposal after discussions. Politics of consensus would not be possible until and unless Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai resigns from the post and holding of CA elections in November was not possible in the absence of political consensus, said Bhattarai. Nepali Congress central member Ananda Prasad Dhungana said it is still not certain that the CA elections will be held. He stressed the need of forging political consensus on the Commission's proposal. It may be noted that the government had on May 27 announced the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly with a decision to hold fresh elections in November this year. (Parties oppose the proposal as insecure leaders are known to have contested from three constituencies.) nnnn PM GIVES ONLY ASSURANC Kathamandu, 25 July: Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has said that the government is committed to searching those, who were disappeared by the state during the armed conflict period, RSS reports. Receiving a memorandum submitted by the Society for Fighters Disappeared by the State at the UCPN-Maoist Headquarters, Parisdanda, today, Prime Minister Bhattarai said that law, which is going to be made to carry out search for the disabled, could not be made because of the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML. He said that the government is serious on the issue as it would add more pain to the family members after condition of the disappeared people could not be made public. According to Secretary of the Society, Puja Khanal, the Society submitted the memo to the Prime Minister saying the condition of the disappeared was not made public while piling pressure to the government frequently to make public the situation of those who were disappeared by the state. Khanal, who is also a former lawmaker, said that the memo was submitted in the presence of top leaders including Chairman of the UCPN-Maoist, Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Stating that the government is going to promote the then Battalion Chief of Bhairabnath Battalion, Raju Basnet, who had roles in making their relatives disappear, she warned that it would not be good if the government does so. In response, Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai, said that the government would not promote those, who made people to disappear, and added that the government is not in favour of impunity. The memo also demanded that commission and bill related to making public the disappeared should be formed and drafted immediately. Similarly, the Society demanded that the government provide sufficient scholarships to children of the disappeared and martyrs and remove the age limit and number. Likewise, the memo also demanded that arrangement of identity cards to the family of the disappeared people be made. Nnnn BEIJING MAYOR PROMOTION LIKELY Kathmandu, 25 July:— Beijing's mayor is apparently still on track to be promoted to China's powerful decision-making body despite public questioning of the city government's handling of floods that left at least 37 dead, AP reports from Beijing.. Mayor Guo Jinlong and one of his vice mayors resigned, state media reported Wednesday, in what is likely a routine reshuffling. The announcement came as more rain was forecast to hit Beijing and amid signs that the death toll from last weekend's storms could jump higher. Saturday's massive flooding was a major embarrassment for China's capital, which spent billions of dollars modernizing the city while apparently neglecting its drainage systems. State media, analysts and ordinary netizens have piled on criticism of the city's handling of the crisis and its lack of preparedness. Outgoing Mayor Guo had already been tapped for a promotion to the city's top position as Communist Party secretary, so his resignation was not unexpected. Though his promotion appears to be moving forward, the storm and its fallout are a taint on him and his mentor and ally President Hu Jintao. As Beijing's party secretary, Guo is almost certain to be named to the powerful 25-member Politburo at a party congress later this year. The official Xinhua News Agency said Wang Anshun, a Beijing city official since 2007, was appointed acting mayor. One of Guo's vice mayors, Ji Lin, also resigned. State media reported earlier that Ji had ead of the city's Political and Legal Committee. On Wednesday, China Central Television showed new amateur video of the deadly flash flood that hit the rural community of Fangshan Saturday, with pictures of a high river of brown water roiling through the small town's streets with enough force to push cars along. Xinhua quoted the top official in the hardest-flood-hit district as saying their fatality and injury figures were still preliminary. "Fangshan has suffered major losses, and the numbers are still in the process of being compiled," district head Qi Hong told reporters Tuesday, according to Xinhua. The district's fatality figures were never separately released but incorporated in the overall city toll. The Beijing News reported online that Li Shixiang, head of the Beijing government committee set up to deal with the disaster's aftermath, told members at their first meeting Wednesday that updated information about the missing and dead would be released "in due time." Saturday's heavy rain was unusual in normally dry Beijing. But the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said more heavy rain was expected in the capital later Wednesday and Thursday, and warned of possible flash flooding and mudslides in the capital's mountainous outskirts, including already hard-hit Fangshan. nnnn